By Alec Hogg
By South African standards, England is a small country. And one with a lot more cars, which means it takes a lot longer to get around. Like last week, when my 240km trip to Suffolk in England’s eastern bulge took over three hours. But it was a journey worth every minute.
Partly because of the directive from a recently acquired friend, an ex-British Army officer, to read Bill Browder’s book Red Notice which exposes Putin’s brutally corrupt regime. Also, because my pal steered me towards his neighbour Rowan Gormley – a countryman born in Boksburg, raised in East London and schooled at Selborne and UCT.
Gormley, CEO of the country’s biggest wine retailer, is well known in the UK. He took the job as boss of Majestic Wine three years ago after the £300m market cap operation acquired his disruptive startup Naked Wines for £70m. It is Gormley’s second successful creation after Virgin Money, which his former boss Richard Branson sold in May for £1.7bn.
There was much to absorb from this brilliant entrepreneur as we relaxed under a surprisingly fierce English sun. During the interview, cooling gusts of wind were welcome – but they payed havoc with the recording, which then took an age to edit into shape. But like the trip, it was worth the effort. As I’m sure you’ll agree after listening to the Gormley story.
